Safecracker Part 3 - Magic Exists
by the stargate time traveller
Summary: Part Three of the saga. What can you do when you discover the existence of a whole new world which has grave implications for your plans? Harry is uncertain what to do about the magical world's existence now, especially since people out there have plans in mind for him.


I still don't own Harry Potter. I just own the alternative versions of him which I love to write, especially those where he/she is a criminal.

Happy Christmas.

Please let me know what you think.

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Safecracker.

Magic Exists.

After being shoved in the cupboard after the usual nighttime routine, Harry was left alone by the Dursleys; whether it was because they couldn't be bothered to deal with him or because they didn't have any material to use against him, Harry did not know and did not care.

Whatever the reason was, Harry was just grateful for the solitude because at least in the privacy of his cupboard, he could think and go over the notes and work out what to do with the future.

After spending a good few hours speaking to his aunt about the magical world, finding out about her history with it although Harry didn't give a damn either way about her attempts to go to Hogwarts, even if he was just curious why she simply hadn't taken the refusal as it was and simply got on with her life. He had asked her about it, and Petunia had just said she had wanted a chance to shine like her sister, even if she lacked the gift of magic as his mother had.

A part of Harry would always feel sympathetic, really; while he hated his aunt for her sick plans, especially the part where she'd be glad to kick him out onto the streets simply because she wanted revenge on his mother, he could understand the pain of being overshadowed. He had felt it himself when the Dursleys lavished Dudley with gifts and affection and giving him nothing despite working himself to the bone, but over time Harry had learnt how to hate the Dursleys after they had humiliated him so many times and beaten and mentally tortured him for things he now knew were based on a hatred for magic, but he had accepted nothing he did would ever be appreciated by the Dursleys. And it hadn't taken him long to realise it.

The key difference between himself and his aunt was where he had accepted the Dursleys would never love him and would always despise him simply because he was magical and different from them and had moved on, especially since he'd gotten a big confidence boost in being able to get out of the cupboard which had been his cell in this small prison, committing thefts without them knowing while he had harnessed his powers, Petunia had become stuck in time.

His aunt was the complete opposite of him; where Harry had accepted the fact he would never earn the affection from his relatives long before, his aunt still held onto her hatred for him and his mother and nursed it to death.

Petunia had become stuck in time.

She simply refused to try to become a different person. She could have gone to university, learnt a profession and become proud of whatever accomplishments she had gained all on her own because she had _earned it for herself _without her envy for Lily Potter to drive her on.

Harry had done it.

He had worked out nothing he could do to earn the love and affection from the Dursleys, so instead of worrying about it and letting them get to him, Harry had simply gotten on with his life.

Look at what he could do now; he had discovered his magic, learnt how to open doors without turning a key, begun hypnotising people. Harry knew he could never have done that had he simply bowed his head and let the Dursleys mistreat him. His aunt was serious; they had planned on starving him, abusing him, anything to stop him from exhibiting his powers. Even if it hadn't worked...Petunia would have thrown him on the streets, alone and cold.

Harry shuddered at the thought of becoming the type of kid who would simply bow his head and let his disgusting relatives do something like that. The very thought of it alone was enough to twist his stomach into tight knots.

The worst of it was he could see it happening.

Harry had been so desperate for love from the Dursleys, it had been devastating whenever they had humiliated him until he'd realised there was nothing he could do about it, so he needed to accept the facts.

That wasn't all; Petunia was extremely bitter towards his mother for her looks, her talents, her ability to do things virtually effortlessly, and it made him wonder what kind of person his mother was. Did her ability to do things virtually effortlessly make her arrogant about her abilities, or did she just take things with a pinch of salt?

He hadn't asked Petunia since the hatred would have given him a biased answer and he had to wonder if he would get much from any of the people who even knew his mother.

The part he hated the most was the bigotry and the fear of the unknown; surely it had occurred to the Dursleys their plans would not and would never work out since those bouts where his magic had erupted before he'd learnt about it would always emerge. But then again no-one would ever claim the Dursleys had common sense.

Harry shook his head as he read through his notes, deciding to push all thoughts of the Dursleys out of his mind for the time being so he could focus on the notes he'd taken about the magical world. Petunia was a fountain of information, especially since she knew how to get into the magical world which made things easier for him.

Unfortunately, at the same time, there was still a lot Petunia didn't know; yeah, she had listened in on many of the conversations hosted between his mother and this Severus Snape guy, who according to Petunia was a nasty piece of work, and she had relayed a few stories to him under hypnosis of what he had done to her.

Much of it was unpleasant. What made it worse was how Snape would spin a totally different story for his mother's benefit. Like a gullible nasty bitch, Lily took Snape's side, virtually every time. It only caused more friction between Lily and Petunia and drove the wedge between the sisters who had once been close although even before she had found out her sister was a witch and she was not even wider.

Harry sighed. While he was sure there was a different reason for his mother falling for Snape's lies, he did have to wonder and ask himself if his mother was even a nice person. He knew everyone had flaws with their personalities, and he truly hoped that his mother fell into that category. But even if she wasn't it meant nothing to him in the long term.

But the magical world…

While Petunia knew some of the details, enough to help him actually get through the barriers which separated the two worlds - Petunia had gone with his mother and his grandparents into this Diagon Alley place, and she had seen enough details of this hidden world to help him get there himself, but she had also learnt the magical world had isolated itself from the non-magical world. Petunia had apparently sneaked into Lily's room, either to get her into trouble or simply because she was really nosey - in fact, that was how she had gotten a lot of her information about this world, by eavesdropping on the private discussions between Snape and his mother, information she had remembered and had given to Harry.

Anyway Petunia had discovered the Statute of Secrecy was an important law in the magical world, where witches and wizards were not meant to expose their community to the non-magical world.

Harry felt that made sense; the Dursleys were a primary example of people who hated and feared magic, and there were bound to be hundreds of other people out there who'd fear it too simply because they didn't understand it. After being exposed to the hatred for most of his life, Harry knew he didn't want the magical world to be exposed.

But he was still torn about what he was going to do now. The encounter with the Death Eater and his aunt's story told him there were people out there who wanted him dead for what had happened to this Dark Lord, but there were also people out there who seemed to have their own agenda. At the same time, he wondered if he should just escape from his relatives, and take his chances outside the magical world, or if he should brave it and get some more answers from there.

Harry was tempted to go for that second option. While he knew some aspects of the magical world, there was still much he did not know. For the time being, he would continue with his original plans and get enough cash together. Only now he would need to refine his immediate plans, and Harry didn't know how long that would take.

This Albus Dumbledore guy also someone who concerned him.

The letter and the part Petunia remembered word for word worried him a great deal.

_Raise him how you see fit. _

Did that mean…Dumbledore had done something to his relatives to make them abusive? It hardly made logical sense, given what Petunia had told him under hypnosis; Dumbledore had told her in the letter she would be protected with him around, and he would be protected in turn, and that there was some kind of magical protection on the house. It seemed extremely strange the man would want him to be beaten and starved at the same time.

But that phrase Petunia could recite and remember world for word, worried him.

Did Dumbledore want him to be abused for some reason? Now he thought about it, many of the wounds he had taken from being here, the ones which had healed overnight, he wondered if Dumbledore had been involved there as well. What about the people on the street? Had this wizard prevented the authorities from getting involved?

Harry was willing to bet he had, and it made him wonder now if perhaps he should stay for a bit longer in Little Whinging at least until he could deal with Dumbledore once and for all. His life could depend on it.


End file.
